Author
Topic: Finding and building a home (Read 1755 times)

Hello my new friends. First of all I do apologize if I have posted this in the wrong area etc. My wife and I purchased some land in Iba where we first intended to build our small home. But I have since become truly interested in the area of Banaue. I like the higher elevation and the coolness that in brings. I like the green fertile rice terraces and lime stone caves in the area. Also, the people seem quite friendly although that pretty much is a given no matter where you go in P.I. especially if you act in a courteous and polite manner. Anyway, now for my question... does anyone out there have any information regarding purchasing property in this area (Banaue) or any of the cooler/higher areas in this region? We wish to be somewhere with a nice view, fertile land, hilly or mountainous terrain with lots of trees. Once we find suitable land we hope to build a small modest home and grow tropical plants everywhere. Maybe even build a home out of a limestone cave, or possibly a tree house. Feel free to contact me regarding this issue if you wish to share any info/etc you may have. Iíd appreciate it greatly. Truly, I really would like to see some information about buying land in or near Banaue. I\'m ready to retire as soon as possible. Far too much crap going on in the U.S. You can no longer depend on the courts there to protect you or your assets. The level of guilt or innocents regarding any thef or murderier now is much more likely to br dictated by the size of their families bank account not their own actions.V/r,

Your safety should be you big concern when your so far out and isolated.Go to the U S embassy and get a feel of what they think of youliving out and up there. Test is how many X pats live there.if not that many, why? Also check Bukidnon towns of Valenciaand Malaybalay. Higher elevation in the island of Mindanao.

Anything is possible. I have a friend who lives in a converted grain silo in the USA, made a very nice job of it, and he too has all sorts of exotic plants and wierd pet animals around his house.

Living in the back of beyond is okay, as long as you are aware of what can happen and take measures to protect against anything \'unusual\' happening. Lots of automatic lights, maybe an alarm, a hidden weapon or two, all simple things that may make a would-be assailant simply move on to easier pickings.

And look poor, not rich, don\'t park a glossy new Ford Expeditious or Toyota Pious in your drive.†

Going on the murders we saw in Angeles a month or two back, living in a well populated, high-rent, high class, town-centre, \'secure compound\' doesn\'t exactly guarantee safety either.

When I unpacked all my myriad boxes of workshop junk after moving over I found four PIR lights I\'d bought in the UK and shipped over. I haven\'t installed any yet, but they do work well when set up correctly. Nothing deters a nosey villain like 500 watts of light switching on suddenly as he creeps sneakily towards your house.†

Banaue is in Nueva Vizcaya Provenience of North Luzon. I live in the town of Solano which is about 70km down the hill, so to speak. Been to Banaue many times. Very scenic area with majestic mountain views and is an hiker\'s paradice. Really beautiful area. Like most mountain areas in the Philippines it is prone to land slides. Roads often get block with dirt and rocks. Banaue is in a typhoon area. So building a tree house would not be a good idea i think. No good hospital, pharmacies, schools,† shopping etc. Area not really develop.Very remote place. Would i live there? No. As far as buying land there i guess you could but like most other places in the philippines one needs to be very careful when buying land. I assume that you are married to a filipina as you cannot buy land as a foreigner. Has to be in your wife\'s name. Then if you decide to buy just make sure you are buying from the rightfull owner. Who have legitimate title in there name. Also make sure the taxes is payed up to date. Many people here do not pay taxes or are behind with their tax payments.You as a foreigner will most likely be ask to pay double and triple the real cost of the property, so you would need to do a search on land prices in the area. Would be good to let your wife do the bargaining if she is so incline.What ever you do just make sure that you are there in person to conduct your business. Do not leave that up to a relative to do for you.We just went through the process of buying land in our town of Solano. Everything went smoothly because my wife did most of the leg work, knows a lot of people here and knows what to look out for in advance.Good luck with your plans. Take care .

Trevor

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Never look down on anyone and always extend a helping hand. Tomorrow the role may be reverse.Life is what you make it. Nothing to do with luck.